>> remembering nelson mandela. leaders from around the world gather in johannesburg to pay tribute to a global icon as the people in south africa say goodbye to the father of their nation. >> u.s. gets involved in the crisis in central african republic. they call for a calm. >> round 2 - more snow in the forecast. residents brace for disruptions and school closings. >> republicans baulk at extending payments for the

jobless. >> remembering nelson mandela. it is 9am in johannesburg, south africa. that is a live look at the stadium where crowds are forming for the official state memorial service which is set to begin in 2 hours. it's taking place at the f&b stadium, which seats 94,000. authorities are expecting many more will attend. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. nic in addition to the citizens of south africa dignitaries will attend. president obama will speak. he met nelson mandela at a washington d.c. hotel in 2005 when he was a senator.

bill clinton, george w. bush and jimmy carter also part of delegation. >> david cameron, hamid karzai, steven harper. ban ki-moon, will people, and former general secretary kofi annan. prince charles is representing the throne. we'll have more from south africa with ali velshi who is on the ground. men american forces are being called on. chuck hagel is ordering the u.s. military to transport troops. 400 have been killed in fighting between christians and muslim groups. we go to the capital where the french troops are diffusing the crisis. looking like a muslim here can

make you a target. the man dressed in white is surrounded by local christians. they say he's a seleka general. they want to kill him. he says he's a local businessman. the french intervene ordering people to move away. they arrest a muslim man taking him away. in another suburb of the city a man is carried to safety. he's been stabbed. locals accuse him of being part of anti-balaka. a christian militia group. >> we found this man walking. we have two grenades. we ask him where he is from. he couldn't tell us. >> french soldiers have a difficult task. there are thousands of armed people in the city. french forces are under a u.n. mandate to disarm them. >> the french stop a pick-up. a seleka soldier in a beret are

told to move away from the vehicle. >> french soldiers found weapons and grenades in the cars of these men. you can see that these men have been arrested, hands behind their backs and phones taken away. french soldiers told us that these men are the same people responsible for an exchange of fire close to the airport. >> these men will be taken to the international military base at the airport. >> the priority is the same for all soldiers. to secure the zone so we can have a little more peace. >> most here welcome what is happening. they want the french to do more. >> translation: we are happy with what the french have down disarm the seleka in bangui. we want them to come into the neighbourhood and take the weapons from the armed houses.

>> these are tense times. there's no army or police on the streets, just south african forces and french soldiers. with no rule of law, there'll be mob justice. after days of killing some people have had enough. they are out for revenge. >> president obama recorded an audio message for broadcast in the central african republic, urging the people to choose peace instead of violence saying those that commit crimes will be arrested. the powerful snow storm that clobbers the midwest made its way to the middle east. in baltimore schools were closed. school buses from spinning their wheels. look at this video of an ice storm in dallas - sheets of ice sliding off a building.

today we are looking at a second wave of know. you can see the rain pushing off. more snow is coming. it's starting 9 o'clock in the morning until friday in the afternoon. some places 2-4 inches. temperatures are not going to get above freezing. the snow will remain on the ground. up here on the north-west there were a few showers and mix presip there. for seattle over the next couple of days it will be messy. tuesday, rain and snow mix, a break on wednesday, rain on thursday breaking out here on friday with a temperature of 48 degrees. down towards the south-west, looking nice. no snow in the mountains for the next several days. los angeles beautiful weather for you. we are looking at tuesday, 65 degrees, going up to 71 degrees by the time we hit midweek.

well, for texas you can see nice conditions. we had snow pushing through parts of oklahoma. it is cold. dallas, you are not going to get higher than 39. san antonio, 49 for you. good news as we go through the week. it will get warmer, up to 47 by the time we get towards friday. to the south-east, florida, that is the best weather in the country, anywhere south of the rain shower lines you can see temperatures. they'll be quite nice. orlando 83, miami at 83, atlanta 52. >> okay. we want to turn back to the top story, the memorial service for south african president which is getting under way in johannesburg. that's where ali velshi joins us from now outside. good morning. what are you seeing there right

now? >> not a single, single tear in the place. it is just after 9 o'clock in the morning. this memorial service will not start for a couple of hours. people have been streaming in. buses have been coming in. they have been coming in on taxis. we are in soweto. if you look over my shoulder you can see the area where the goldmining was done and is the most populous part of jofi joseph, this is first national bank stadium. soccer stadium, where the final game of the world cup was played in 2010. it was the last time nelson mandela made a public appearance. people are streaming in here. there's a lot of indian faces. and then we saw this face. this woman has come here from

dong democratic republic of congo and when you heard that nelson mandela died you made in beautiful death. >> thank you very much. i'm staying here. i'm usually here. when i heard that he was admitted to the hospital i couldn't stay in congo. i came. it's a pleasure for me to be here >> you are not sad. people are not crying. >> no, i'm not crying because he lived a nice life. he's trying to educate these good ideas and values of freedom and democracy. he was hope to reach that. >> why are you here? why do you care? you're from congo.

. >> no, nelson is not from congo or south africa. he's for all the planet. his ideas are especially for everybody. he is a good memory of nelson mandela. [ inaudible ] >> i have to ask you - this is your real hair, right? [ laughter ] . >> it's my real hair >> you've been out here long enough, you are cold and wet so go inside. we'll join you laughter. >> he deserves that. >> he does deserve that.

>> i will stay outside >> you will and others will. thank you so much. look at the crowd coming in now. this is the kind of thing we are seeing all morning. look at that. stay on there for a second and watch the guys pass by. they are singing. the songs of celebration, no tears in johannesburg in soweto. this is the happiness, the joy. people are singing and chanting. they'll be here all morning. we'll talk again as things get underway. >> ali velshi live for us outside the stadium where people are celebrating the life of nelson mandela. al jazeera america will provide special extended coverage of the service for nelson mandela. coverage begins at 4am eastern live. >> about 4.5 million jobless americans will lose their

benefits if congression doesn't act. the white house wants to extent the benefits act. many republicans are opposed to giving people money if they've been out of work for a year >> every monday morning the first thing sara drinker does is get the unemployment benefits. >> that's the first thing. >> the rest of the week her full-time job was getting a job. >> she's been out of work since january and joined the ranks of long-termed unemployment, jobless for more than 26 weeks. >> i sent out 25 resumes a day, at least, or more. >> her last job paid $28 an hour. things are tighter. but not everyone thinks sara's benefits should be extended past december 28th. >> it will be better to move back to the standard 26 weeks.

unemployment benefits will be a curbion, to give you time to search. it's not to be a permanent replacement. >> new jersey's unemployment has been higher than the rest of the country. nationwide 1.3 million stand to lose their benefits. the state with the most long-termed unemployed. north-east of los angeles. vanessa has been out of work for is a months. her husband is looking for work. >> for me the job search is gruelling. >> she was on disability for a while, and welfare. if congress doesn't extend benefits her 162 a week will drop to 132. if that happens, she's wondering how to feed her baby and 10-year-old. >> for those in upper government

who have $100 lunches and dinners. we live off $2.50 a day. >> she'll try to find odd jobs and do what she cans. she says she doesn't want to live this way. >> all the motivation in the world cannot make someone hire you. >> back home, a ray of home. >> thank you, bye. i have a job interview. >> congressional republicans said on monday they would not support renewing the benefits as part of a budget deal. the emergency program expires. cracking down on protesters in ukraine, the latest steps officials are taking to deter demonstrations. federal officials are filing charges.

congress looks to ban plastic guns. growing concerns about 3d proposals to make them, and what else they could be used for.

>> thailand's prime minister will not resign before elections in february despite huge protests. the call for a general election has done nothing to stop the demonstrations in bangkok. prime minister wants yingluck shinawatra to resign within 24 hours. opposition leaders say they'll be replaced with an unelected people's party. >> people in ukraine want prime minister viktor yanukovych to step down because he favours associated with russia instead of the west. >> opposition leaders who healed sway in kiev for more than two weeks are face to face with forces from the interior ministry.

in the snow storm that struck the capital they appealed for calm. >> these are peaceful people without weapons. this is a peace of demonstration. i'm asking each of you before using force or weapons to think, please. you will be responsible for what happens. >> protesters fear the troops may be on the point of seizing back control of the city center. barricades around buildings have been removed. state security on monday even raided the party. computer equipment was seized when the website was shut down. if president viktor yanukovych thinks that through the law enforcement agencies and riot place that that will work, he is

mistaken. >> at independence square, they occupied public buildings. they are preparing for a struggle. these are not snowballs, they are made of plaster. there is hope for a peaceful outcome from the crisis. the e.u.'s foreign policy chief will press for a revolution when she flies to kiev. as the police close in, organizers hope more supporters will converge on the center. there may be safety in numbers. >> ukraine's president is expected to discuss the crisis with three of the country's former presidents. 18 current and former members of the los angeles are facing federal charges. they extend from a lengthy charges. they say that they beat inmates and visitors and conspired to

instruct the investigation. those charged are lower to midranking deputies. >> it is nearly one year since the mass anger the sandy hook school elementary school. the families of the 26 victims are building on online tribe ute to the loved ones. it shows the name of each child and educator killed. each name is a link to the victim's biography and a list of charities. the site is mysandyhookfamily.org. >> almost a year after the shooting congress agreed a bill to ban 3d guns. >> we would like, the soirenato from florida and i is to say those types of guns, purely plastic, are illegal, and a gun

must have metal in it that can't be removed easily, and those guns would be legal. they couldn't be smuggled through metal detectors. >> correspondent jacob ward checks out the new technology. >> a year ago a start-up founder and vice president of a tech company in san francisco bought 1,0003d printer. he made keys. >> i lock myself out of the apartment. i picked up a lock-pick set to pick my way in and realised, "hey, instead of walking three blocks to a locksmith to make a copy of a key, i can print one at home." >> he realised he could make others' keys by take pictures on a cell phone. he can photograph a normal key,

literally one on a bar, feed the image into his 3d printer and produce a working copy. >> keys are simple. to get a key to work you have to outline the shape, a 2d shape and you have the key. >> is the thickness important. >> no, it just has to be thin enough to slide in. >>. >> these are red herrings. i have a book there which has the top five key types, and that covers 95% of the u.s. >> ras can is a nice guy with a high-paying job. he's not looking to break into anyone's home. he wanted to make a point. >> my hope is that people realise keys are autodated. these thingses are really just senses of false security. we have to move to something

better. >> the thing about regulating 3d printing is it transforms what it means to make or own or sell something. >> forbidden possessions like guns are not possessions, they are plans that can be downloaded. with the right plans. you can do everything. >> once you can do a secret. you can make the secret. any time you have a key, if i have a picture of it, i have it. as ras can's project reveals, it has the potential to change all ideas about property and privacy this the future. >> 3d printers capable of making

a gun are as little as $1400. remembering nelson mandela. here is a look at johannesburg, where tens of thousands of people are getting ready for official memorial services. we'll have a preview of those

proceedings. >> we are turning back to our top story right now. the memorial service or south african president and nelson mandela. what you are looking at there is a 94,000-seat capacity stadium, the f&b stadium in soweto. that is where ordinarily south african citizens that you see in droves will be there. where more that 100 world leaders and dignitaries will attend.

president obama, first lady michelle and the bush arrived in johannesburg. they'll be there. president obama will be among the world leaders that will be speaking at the event for 20 minutes. they'll be one of the first speakers to be there. we are aspecting a huge crowd, more than 94,000. the logistics of the event, a major issue obviously for security reasons. they are expecting an overflow crowd. as you can see, the mood in johannesburg right is now, sell brattory. this is what we observed when nelson mandela died. people have been gathering outside that home for days, with the same sell bratry mood. we are joined by our correspondent inside the stadium.

describe what you see from your vantage point? >> well, it's not so much of what i see or feel. an unbelievable air of energy in this stadium. people are filing in and have been here for a couple of hours. we got here at 5:30 in the morning. people were waiting outside the gate. they were led in. the upper stands under the roof are packed in the far end of the stadium. a constant sea of dancing and chanting and celebration. it's been absolutely remarkable. we are about 90 minutes out from the actual program which will involve singing the south african national anthem, speeches from president obama, bangui moonof the united nations, raul castro of cuba -

and many others as well. it's an electric scene. so far the stadium has not filleded in. you are seeing a lot of empty seats, that's partially because it's pouring rain and people don't want to sit out from under the roof. we expect in an hour and a half those seats will be filled in. we talked to those up three, four in the morning. they say they can't miss it. >> talk a little bit about the logistics of this. 94,000 potentially. more than 100 world leaders there. logistics in terms of world leaders are very complicated by security. for the rest of the people the: istics are simple. open the gaits and let them in.

we'll continue to have coverage on al jazeera. thanks for watching. >> so we have to have a